Hand of Darkness
|fgcolor= |prev=Infested |conc= |next=Phantoms of the Void |image=HandofDarkness SC2-HotS Story.jpg |imgsize=250px |conflict=Second Great War |campaign=''Heart of the Swarm'' |date=Early 2505 |place=Skygeirr Station |result=Swarm secures Skygeirr upper levels |battles= |side1= Zerg Swarm |side2= Terran Dominion |side3= Amon's Forces * Hybrid |side4= |side5= |side6= |commanders1= Queen Sarah Kerrigan Alexei Stukov |commanders2= |commanders3= Emil Narud |commanders4= |commanders5= |commanders6= |forces1=*Zerg **Liberated brutalisks |forces2=Dominion Armed Forces |forces3=8 hybrid dominators |forces4= |forces5= |forces6= |casual1= |casual2= |casual3=All hybrid |casual4= |casual5= |casual6= |client=Alexei Stukov |reqmissnum= |altmission= |goal=*Destroy all eight Hybrids *Kerrigan's life must not be drained |optgoal=Liberate captive Brutalisks |heroes=Kerrigan |mercs= |reward=Mutalisk Evolution mission *+2 Kerrigan levels (optional) |newchar= |newunit= |newtech= }} Hand of Darkness is the second Skygeirr Station mission in Heart of the Swarm.Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm. (Activision Blizzard). PC. Mission: Heart of the Swarm, Hand of Darkness (in English). 2013-03-12. Background Having broken through Skygeirr Station's outer defenses, the Swarm invaded the installation's interior and laboratories. Dominion forces continued to resist. Emil Narud unleashed eight hybrid dominators (enhanced versions of the hybrid destroyer) against Sarah Kerrigan. The dominators began psionically draining Kerrigan's life, but were destroyed by the Swarm before they could finish. The dominators had force wave, mirror image and psionic storm powers. Once the hybrid were dead, Kerrigan ordered the Swarm to scour the station's lower levels in pursuit of Narud. Walkthrough As the level begins, a hybrid awakens from stasis and psionically attacks Kerrigan. The player must destroy it within a time limit or else the mission is lost. The player should refrain from moving out immediately, as their starting forces are sparse and they will be attacked by the Dominion forces in the area, so taking the time to build up a larger army before moving out is preferable. As the level continues, hybrids will continue to awaken on a regular basis. Their powers increase with each new one releases, including creating copies of themselves, creating a shockwave to knock units back, and a blink-like teleportation. The player has the option to destroy the holding cells to awaken hybrids ahead of time, if they wish to speed up the mission. As the hybrids are hostile to both the zerg and the Dominion, another strategy is to lure the hybrid towards the Dominion forces and have the Dominion fight it instead. This is quite helpful at trying to earn the mastery achievement. Another possible option is to use the infestor to mind control strong damage units like thors or siege tanks to kill it when you use zerg units to weaken its health low enough. There is a comparatively small Dominion base to the west of the player's starting position that should be cleared out early in the mission to acquire additional resources and halt Dominion attacks from it, letting the player focus their defense on the eastern edge of their base. A third mineral patch is just north-east of this base, north of the player's own base. Further north from here the player will find a brutalisk in stasis, approaching it will earn a bonus Kerrigan level and add it to the player's forces. The Dominion guard in this area is light, and the player should consider liberating the brutalisk early in the level, as it is a very powerful unit. A second brutalisk is guarded directly south of the player's base. With the two brutalisks and Kerrigan leading their forces, the player should easily be able to push their way through the Dominion guards to hunt down the hybrids. With only two hybrids left, Narud will awaken them both at once, forcing the player to fight them together. When this last obstacle is overcome, the level is over. Videos File:Starcraft 2 Hand Of Darkness - Brutal Guide - All Achievements! Achievements Notes An earlier version of the mission had hybrids merging and collecting focus crystals that amplified Kerrigan's powers. If three hybrids merged, a psionic vortex would be created that would destroy the planet.2014-08-20, Unused HoTS Story Elements. StarCraft Legacy, accessed on 2014-08-29 There was also to be a point where the Dominion soldiers abandoned Narud and attempted to flee the facility; this caused Tal'darim warriors to appear to fight Kerrigan, and the Dominion became hostile to both Kerrigan, and Narud's hybrid and Tal'darim. Another cut element was the presence of s in the lab that could be taken control of.Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm Map Editor. (Activision Blizzard) (in English). March 12, 2013 References Category:Heart of the Swarm missions